Browse Career Advice Articles

Recently, an Excelle community member asked me how to gain holiday employment. (See full question here.) My Response: I’m thrilled to hear you want to target a seasonal job as a way to land full-time employment. There are 5 things you can do: #1 – Showcase the right skills on your resume. Make sure your resume highlights and draws attention to ...

Know you want to work for yourself but aren’t sure where to start? This is the first post in a two part series on concrete steps you can take to make your entrepreneurial dreams a reality. Brainstorm Ideas Sitting down with a pen and paper – either by yourself or with a creative group of friends or colleagues – is a ...

People are often surprised to hear the first step in ‘10 Key Steps to a Successful Job Search‘ is to choose a place to live. It sounds obvious and easy (which is always good for a first step, right?), but honestly, there is no better way to narrow down a career search than defining where you want to live while you ...

Job Description Each day, hundreds of billions of dollars change hands on the major United States securities exchanges. This money is used to purchase stocks, bonds, mutual funds, and other financial instruments. Securities are bought and sold by large institutional investors, wealthy individuals, mutual funds and pension plans, and the general public. In fact, about half of American households own stock. ...

Home-cooked meals and grocery coupon clipping have become the cost-cutting ways of the recession. Still, many of us are still spending money we don't need to at the store. *There are ways to make food shopping a less expensive — but still healthy — trip every time.* You just need to plan ahead, make a list and avoid some common missteps ...

Over the last few years, I’ve heard a lot of very intelligent job seekers casually remark they had sent out hundreds of resumes while looking for a job. These people firmly believed job searching was entirely a numbers game, so the more resumes they sent out, the more likely they were to be hired. Unfortunately, these job seekers were flawed in ...

Job Description Dispatchers are responsible for handling calls for assistance from the public (often through 911 systems) and dispatching the appropriate type of emergency response units. Dispatchers must be able to obtain enough detail from the situation to properly determine the type, seriousness, and location of the emergency. They operate out of police station or centralized command center and often remain ...

The adage says, "A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush," and its wisdom is applicable to job seekers. It is usually far easier to find another job if you're already employed. But how can you ensure that the worst never happens to you -- that you're never left without a job and possibilities for your next opportunity? ...

Job Description Travel perks attract people to this occupation. Travel agents make arrangements for transportation, accommodations, and tours for their clients. They handle sales for most major cruise lines, and promote resort and travel packages to their clients. Agents who work for tour operators may help develop, arrange, and sell the company’s own package tours and travel services. They may promote ...

JT & Dale Talk Jobs’ is the largest nationally syndicated career advice column in the country and can be found at JTandDale.com. Dear J.T. and Dale: I graduated from college six years ago. Since then, I’ve had seven jobs in three industries. My family is disgusted with me. My parents think they wasted their money on my college education. I have ...

Job Description Rent, buy, or sell property for clients. Perform duties, such as study property listings, interview prospective clients, accompany clients to property site, discuss conditions of sale, and draw up real estate contracts. Median Salary $56,240 – $108,360, plus commission. (United States) Education Agents must obtain a license in the States where they sell, and must be high school graduates. ...

As you might expect, I speak with many senior executives and other job hunters on a regular basis. As we review their job search techniques and situation, the common refrain I hear is they’ve set up a LinkedIn profile, but then failed to do anything else with it. In many cases, I find executives are only peripherally aware using LinkedIn can help ...

With corporate downsizing at an all-time high and entrepreneurs and small businesses on the rise, many of us are finding we have to “do-it-yourself” in some areas where we might once have had help. Specifically, we have to actively manage our own careers including keeping an eye on our own training and development. Whether you were one of the “lucky” ones ...

Job Description: Preschool teachers instruct children from infancy to age 5. The term “preschool” refers to instruction in non-public arenas such as licensed preschools, childcare centers, family day care centers, home day care centers, federal programs like Head Start, and full or part-day private child centers/day care centers sponsored by religious bodies. These teachers nurture and care for children who have ...

Job Description Hit the ground running and excel in a profession that’s for self-motivators. “Basically you’re running your own business,” says one rep, who received intense sales and product training and spends his time educating doctors about assessing breast-cancer risk. Besides being self-starters, pharmaceutical reps must be good at following up and deciding where to focus their time and efforts. In ...

The Book. Your Book. Do it better than everyone else and get hired! If you’re looking to get into advertising, there are two things you should to know: 1) Three Martini lunches no longer exist. 2) DON'T neglect your book. Yes, otherwise known as “The Book," it's arguably your most important tool when looking to get that big, bad advertising job. ...

Job Description Sales representatives are an important part of manufacturers’ and wholesalers’ success. Regardless of the type of product they sell, sales representatives’ primary duties are to make wholesale and retail buyers and purchasing agents interested in their merchandise and to address any of their clients’ questions and concerns. Sales representatives demonstrate their products and explain how using those products can ...

Resilience. Stick-to-itiveness. Takes a lickin’, keeps on tickin’. Just a few thoughts that stay top of mind as I ride the ups and downs of the quest for a new job. Admittedly, it takes a pretty tough coating on your ego to handle the repeated rejections. Not all rejections are an outright, “No, we are not offering you the position.” Rather, ...

The past weekend, I attended a gathering of career thought leaders in Seattle, WA, and found this to be an incredibly insightful experience. Usually, résumé writers and career coaches are so busy with clients that we don’t often have the opportunity to sit down and discuss observations, as well as up-and-coming trends on the horizon. We talked long and hard about ...